Therapist and Refugee Couple Heal Trauma on Lesbos Island

Healing Trauma on Lesbos

• 💡 Fabiola Velasquez, a physical therapist, and her husband Sohrab Shirzad, an Afghan refugee, provide care to migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos.
• 🎯 They operate from a converted shipping container, offering a decade of service to those in need.

Shirzad's Journey and Partnership

• 🚀 Sohrab Shirzad, a former NATO truck driver, fled Afghanistan after a Taliban attack that left him bedridden for over a year.
• 🤝 He met Velasquez in 2018, the same year she founded her nonprofit, Earth Medicine, and now works with her as an interpreter.
• 💖 The couple has since started a family and works together to treat patients.

Patient Care and Injuries

• 🏥 The duo treats dozens of patients weekly, combining physiotherapy, acupuncture, and trauma-informed care.
• 🤕 The majority of injuries treated are chronic, often sustained during conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan.

The Refugee Crisis and Hope

• 🌍 Lesbos was a primary entry point for hundreds of thousands of migrants during the 2015 crisis, and a steady flow continues.
• 💔 Beckar Sei, an Afghan asylum seeker, is highlighted as a patient who survived a shipwreck that killed his wife and others.
• ✨ Shirzad expresses that working with vulnerable people makes him a better person and hopes that all the faces he's seen find a home.
• ✅ The couple, with Shirzad having recognized refugee status, plans to stay in Greece and raise their daughter together.